King Tulip by $uicideboy$ Lyrics Meaning – The Haunting Reverb of Existential Reflection
Lyrics
How did these two motherfuckers, from New Orleans
How did they change, how did they change music?”
Yeah, I was the wave, but now I feel the tide pulling back
Ocean flat
Often I lay in this coffin, sleep on my back
Toss a couple of ’em back
My liver really starting to slack
And like I feel myself decaying from the cigarette packs
I never thought I’d see the Tussin’, I was livin’ in the back
I’m blacked out, spare my heart torn in half
Now, I’ve got everything I ever wanted
But now I don’t want it
It feels like I’m haunted, it feels like I’m cursed
Hopefully soon I will turn into dirt
A material world with a virtual nerve
Yeah, I see what it’s worth, toss me out on the curb
Leaving me up on the street of New Orleans
Y’all swervin’ away (love is to short like a cell)
Roll me up a blunt (aye)
I need to get lost (aye)
All y’all talk about sauce, I’m wipin’
Frozen cuts with frost, I’m slicin’
Dope and guts and tossin’ frauds up to the side
Half of $uicide
A couple million, now we’re ready to fucking die
Two cups and a bad bitch
Then I pop me a Xanax, quick
Call Shake when I need that fix
Call Nick when I need that itch
Call crack to the pop, amphetamine
Max Beck in the back, pop seventeen
Young Kurt Cobain with the heroin
$Lick love drugs over everything
Shoot the stars up in my veins, woah
But look at your bankroll
So, just spend it on more dope
More woes, fuck you care fo’
But lately I feel guilty, I feel so badly
They say I made it and that should be satisfactory
Lately, I feel like I have nobody
All alone in the empty hotel lobby
Four A.M., praying, can I get some rest?
Dreams of suicide and a need for death
Four A.M., praying, can I get some rest?
Dreams of suicide and a need for death
“Happening now, streets blocked off as New Orleans police continue to search
For the people accused of firing shots at officers
Wdsu reporter, Natalie Hee is live in the 7th Ward
She joins us now live with the latest developments on this – Natalie”
“Hey there, Sean, what started as a traffic stop this morning
Or earlier this afternoon
Has escalated into a large-scale investigation
With multiple agencies involved on the ground, and in the air
Right now, two people are in custody
And police say they are searching for a possible third suspect”
Delving into the gripping echoes of $uicideboy$’s ‘King Tulip’, one finds a stark polaroid of pain, self-reflection, and the sobering price of fame. This is not merely a track; it’s an odyssey through the complex minds of Ruby da Cherry and $crim, cataloguing the chilling side-effects of success.
Layered with a nuanced production, the lyrics of ‘King Tulip’ immortalize the struggle and disillusionment the duo has faced in the wake of their meteoric rise. It’s a confessional pouring out of their darkest corners, painted against the canvas of their New Orleans roots.
Drowning in Shallow Waters: The Paradox of Success
Ruby da Cherry’s opening line, ‘I was the wave, but now I feel the tide pulling back,’ underscores a profound disillusionment, a wave cresting then vanishing, symbolizing fleeting success. As the tide of fame recedes, it leaves them exposed on the desolate beach of reality. This tidal imagery exemplifies the transient nature of success and the insidious emptiness that often tails its departure.
Their confession reveals the gnawing void that success hasn’t filled, a common narrative among artists who climb the ranks only to realize the view isn’t what they envisioned. ‘Now, I’ve got everything I ever wanted, but now I don’t want it,’ they express, a paradox highlighting the ephemeral nature of material desire when stacked against personal fulfillment.
A Glimpse into the Visceral: The Track’s Most Memorable Lines
Each verse serves as a cut of raw emotion, but certain lines like ‘Hopefully soon I will turn into dirt’ are visceral punches that stay with you. You can almost feel the gritty texture of the words, revealing a desire to return to the earth – to escape the pain and complexity of human existence.
Meanwhile, lines like ‘Dreams of suicide and a need for death’ are an unsettling reminder of the duo’s inner torment. It’s more than hyperbole for the sake of art; it’s a transparent display of the mental battleground where thoughts of oblivion appear seductively peaceful compared to a troubled reality.
The Search for More: Addiction and the Self-Destructive Pendulum
The song candidly documents the cycle of substance abuse with references like ‘two cups and a bad bitch,’ illustrating the pursuit of a high that never lasts. The mention of ‘amphetamine’ and ‘heroin’ is a mirror to Kurt Cobain’s own tragic struggle, a nod to the sacrificial toll of stardom and its destructive companions.
Mentions of Xanax and other drugs, sandwiches of success and despair, paint a bleak picture of coping mechanisms gone awry, providing an indulgent but damning escape. It illustrates the futility of searching for contentment in the numbing embrace of narcotics which offer only a fleeting reprieve from their inner demons.
An Ode to Nihilism: The Song’s Hidden Meaning
Underneath the surface-level narratives of addiction and fame, ‘King Tulip’ houses a foundation of existential nihilism. ‘A material world with a virtual nerve,’ they rap, indicting society’s inclination towards the superficial and the virtual over the tangible and the heartfelt.
It suggests a broader disillusionment with the world, a sentiment echoed in their absorption and rejection of material success alongside a lack of satisfaction in their digital era reality. The track’s existential underpinnings question the inherent value of life and success, wondering aloud if anything matters in the end.
Echoing Beyond NOLA: The Ghost of the Crescent City
Woven into the lyrics, New Orleans not only sets the stage but also emerges as a character – silent and watching. The reference to a ‘street of New Orleans’ serves as an homage to the pavement that bore the struggles of their past and the bleakness of the present, a city steeped in the allure of musicians’ lore.
The visceral broadcast of an NOPD operation, a common thread in the city’s tapestry, bridges the gap between the haunting past of a city known for both its vibrancy and mortality. It converges with the artists’ raw confessionals to showcase the constant juxtaposition of art and reality, of creation and chaos – a duality that $uicideboy$ embrace within their music.
